It is known that chlorinated hydrocarbons used for degreasing metals, dry cleaning, and other purposes, decompose upon contact with metal surfaces and corrode them.
One such hydrocarbon, 1,1,1-trichloroethane is being used to an increasing extent because of its good solvent properties together with low toxicity and good ecological properties. However, it decomposes quite easily. Thus, for industrial use, 1,1,1-trichloroethane is provided with stabilizers.
Stabilized mixtures which contain, inter alia, dioxane, nitromethane, acrylonitrile, or epoxybutane as components, are widely used (e.g. DE-PS No. 11 73 306). Satisfactory stabilization can be fully atained with such stabilizer mixtures. But in order to obtain a satisfactory effect, these conventional, stabilizing ingredients must generally be used as a multiple-component mixture and in rather large amounts. Furthermore, recent research has shown that the utilization of dioxane and acrylonitrile entails danger to health so that a replacement for these substances is vitally necessary.